


Lolicon and shotacon anime/manga: Acceptable or immoral?

by Ghoul_Chick



Category: Anime and Manga
Genre: Anime/Manga - Freeform, Comment and discuss, Gen, Loli, Shota, debate, qualification
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 17:17:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9281885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghoul_Chick/pseuds/Ghoul_Chick
Summary: This is a debate piece on the issue of lolicon and shotacon anime within the anime and manga community done for a qualification I'm working on. If you're interested in finding out more about this then read on.Please note that this is not a story!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi  
> If you're reading this please leave a comment on what your opinions on this topic are or whether you agree or disagree with my point of view. Any feedback would be very much appreciated!!
> 
> Thanks a bunch

Within the anime and manga community there is a lot of debate about the use of Loli and Shota themes to attract a certain group of people. Whilst some find no problem with this, others believe it to be at best immoral and at worst criminal. Why such a huge difference in opinions and which side should be deemed “correct”? In order to answer these questions, we must first understand in detail what these terms mean and everything they encompass. 

Lolicon is a condensed version of the term “Lolita complex” introduced by Japanese anime culture and is typically consumed by young men. It was originally derived from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. The word, in itself, refers to an individual’s attraction, usually sexual in nature, towards girls between the ages of 12 and 16. The male version of this is called shotacon and in turn is a condensed version of the term “Shotaro complex”. It is where someone, usually female but sometimes homosexual males, are attracted to boys of, or appearing to be of, the same age as a traditional lolicon (12-16). Although this genre of manga and anime is widespread throughout Japan, it is seen as a problem to most Westerners and whilst Japan has cracked down on its laws on the making and use of child pornographic imagery and anything else depicting child abuse, they have decided to leave the publication of shotacon and lolicon anime/ manga legal. The most general reason for this decision was because if outlawed, it would put large numbers of manga fans (potentially millions) on the wrong side of the law due to how widespread this phenomenon is. However, were Japan wrong to do this? And is loli/shota manga really that huge of an issue?

There are several different reasons why some people are against loli and shota depictions within anime and manga, however the most prominent reason is due to its link with paedophilia. Due its typical sexualisation of young children for the benefit of adults and the relationships depicted within, many have deemed it to be akin to child pornography. Many view this easy access to such contents as a way for paedophiles to continue living in a world where sexual interaction with children is permitted, giving them the false notion that this type of interaction with young children is acceptable and also as a way of perpetuating and even deepening their perverse habits. The main worry is in how exposure to such heavily sexualised children in the comfort of their home may lead to the escalation of their attraction and thus the molestation of real life children. In addition, the view of no tolerance is adopted in regards to sexual images of children whether real or imagined.

Contrary to this view is that of the one adopted by fans of this particular genre who see lolicon and shotacon anime as nothing more than fictitious images. They take the stance of it being artistic exploration given that a picture illustrating something is not the same as the real thing. A painting of a pipe is not an actual pipe and thus the two should not be confused, similarly an illustration of apparent paedophilia is not the same as the act of paedophilia itself. Furthermore, although this particular genre is seen to be depicting adolescent children, countless surveys have shown that manga lovers are attracted to the cuteness of the character rather than their apparent age. This stance is supported by the fact that the boundaries between when a character can be considered loli or shota is becoming increasingly blurred. A loli or shota is now considered anyone with a particular body type rather than being of a specific age range meaning that a legal adult is still considered loli or shota if they look younger than their age and have an almost child-like cuteness. An additional argument in favour of loli and shota manga and anime is the view that they may have an almost cathartic effect in that they give individuals a constructive way to deal with certain preferences rather than acting out such fantasies on actual children. 

All in all, after looking at both sides of this debate I have come to the conclusion that shotacon and lolicon anime and manga are not immoral, however should not be wholly acceptable either. The fact that a majority of viewers are more concerned with looks rather than ages makes it more tolerable, however that does not take away from the fact that certain individuals do look at these children in this light. Consequently, paedophilic intent may occur but it is better that this intent is expressed towards fictional characters. Moreover, these terms are so broad that they encompass both harmless, platonic usage of such characters and the oversexualised usage and so as a concept I believe that it is relatively harmless, and poses no overall threat to individuals or children.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you can. What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree?? 
> 
> Thanks again


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